Sign up to get Small Farms News by email

Labels

Monday, October 31, 2016

Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education - SARE. I typically hear the acronym followed by the word "grant". If you're into sustainable agriculture, take advantage of what SARE has to offer. There are a few opportunities coming up - including a webinar tomorrow (!) on their Farmer Rancher grant. Also, there are a ton of great resources available in print and online, more below!

-Jake Overgaard

UMN Extension Educator

To sign up to receive this newsletter as an email, fill out this form.

To that end, on Tuesday, November 1st, from 6-8 pm SARE Farmer Rancher Grant coordinator Joan Benjamin and MN SARE Coordinators Wayne Martin and Kate will provide an overview of the SARE Farmer Rancher grant program and answer any questions you may have.

Please contact Kate Seager, kseager@umn.edu or Wayne Martin, marti067@umn.edu with any questions. If you're in the Twin Cities area, you can join in person - though there is limited space available, contact Kate or Wayne if interested.

FEATURED VIDEO

Reduced tillage systems for organic vegetable production

North Central SARE has a great library of videos highlighting grant project results on YouTube. Visit their channel for info on cover crops, grass fed beef, mushrooms, marketing, and much more.

Indeed, there are others.Travel Scholarships (up to $500) are intended to assist ag professionals and farmers explore topics in sustainable agriculture that are new to them. The goal is then for that individual to share the new information with others via outreach events, presentations, articles, etc.

Mini Grants (up to $2000) provide support for organized programs such as field days, farm tours, workshops, etc. Mini Grants may also be used to help fund on-farm research trials or demonstration plots as long as there is an associated outreach component.

Applications are accepted three times per year, in January, May, and October.

In addition to grants, SARE has a ton of excellent resources, mostly free publications available on the web, as well as printed books and other materials. On my shelf you can find "Building soils for better crops", "Managing cover crops profitably", "Building a sustainable business", and "Managing alternative pollinators".

University of Minnesota Extension will be hosting a 2nd series of Transitioning to Organic Workshops, December 5 - 7, 2016 in Lamberton, St. Cloud, and Rochester, MN.

TheseFREE, one-day workshops are for both producers who are seeking more information about organic transitioning and certification, and farmers currently going through the process of transitioning to organic production. These workshops will be primarily directed to field crop producers, but all are welcome.

Building on the information and feedback from last year’s workshops, 2016 topics include;

business plan development and marketing

understanding soil microbes

weed biology

mechanical weed management

Experienced organic farmer, Carmen Fernholz, will be returning to present and field questions. Our team from the University of Minnesota – Kristine Moncada, Adria Fernandez, Gigi Digacomo and Constance Carlson – will join him as presenters.

The Transitioning to Organic workshops are designed to reduce confusion, answer questions, and most importantly, provide guidance for navigating the process of transitioning to organic production.

Monday, October 17, 2016

I had a dream last week about starting a farm…it was a
disaster. I had a partnership with two
close friends who both have farming experience and would be great to work with
– but then there were a whole bunch of other partners I didn’t know. They were working on these projects that made
no sense at all. The details are foggy,
but they were working on something that was exceptionally time consuming,
really elaborate, and had no chance of making any money - and I couldn’t
convince them it would not work.

Where am I going with this? First and foremost, my
nightmares are atypical.

From the National
Small Farms Conference: Small farm
profitability: I attended several
presentations and viewed multiple posters along this theme. Cindy Fake, of University of California
Extension gave a presentation titled “Beginning farmers and ranchers 2.0:
Scaling up to profitability”.

Through a survey they did of local farmers, they found…

A need to focus production on fewer crops to gain
efficiencies, their recommendation was fewer than 10

I asked the presenter if they’re advising against CSAs, the
answer was “yes”

While highly diverse cropping systems weren’t as profitable,
diversification in markets was important

I can imagine you might be shaking your head, I get it
- MN and CA are different, and yes diversity
is important for soil health and biology, fertility, diseases, insects, etc,
etc, etc. They, nor I, are advocating
for a monocropping scenario. There’s a lot
of room for rotation growing 10 crops. Also,
scaling up may not always be the answer – marketing, financing, and labor/production
management adjustments (among others) could provide solutions.

However, while a farm can lack diversity, the pendulum can swing too
far the other way, at some point, we may end up juggling too much, getting away
from what we’re best at producing and our most profitable enterprises. Finding the right mix is a challenge – take a look at the Farmbyte below and business planning resources to find ideas.

Farmbyte: Profitability, financial benchmarks, and
economic impact of local food

Ryan Pesch, Extension Educator produced a report on his work
assessing profitability of local farms in central MN. Listen to an interview and read the report in
this Farmbyte.

The UMN Southwest Research and
Outreach Center (SWROC) is looking for organic produce farms to participate in
research investigating the breakdown of microbes in raw manure used to
fertilize organic fruits and vegetables. Participants will receive soil test
results, feedback on managing manure, and an incentive payment.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Last week, I attended the National Small Farms
Conference in Virginia Beach (don’t get jealous, it was raining pretty much the whole time, I blame Poseidon, at right). The conference is held every four
years, this year it was hosted by Virginia State University, Virginia
Cooperative Extension, and the USDA with support from Virginia Tech. Three of us from the UMN Extension Small
Farms team attended.

The conference is designed for folks like me in Extension,
but also farmers, government, and researchers – along with anyone interested in
learning how to better support small farms.
Here’s part 1 of what I learned followed by a training opportunity that’s
coming soon to SE MN.

Ideas for online education: Some of you have
participated in our “Living on the land” program. In the past year, our team has been working
through a process of moving towards a hybrid in-person/online educational
program.

I was encouraged to learn what Oregon State
University (OSU) has done with their “Growing Farms Workshops”

We know from our own survey work that our
audience is open to learning via online education, but still want an in-person
experience to connect with peers and educators

This was how they built their program, OSU has
had success in reaching audiences by going to a hybrid model

Staging farmers in their first 10 years: OSU (again, they’re doing good work) has
assessed how farmers move through their first 10 years of farming. In the presentation “Successfully navigating
the first ten years: Education targeting farm developmental stages to achieve
long-term viability for small farms” from Garry Stephenson and Lauren Gwin
shared how they break down the stages;

Stage 1: Proving you can grow and sell

First 2-3 seasons, inefficient, learning
from mentors, high levels of confidence

Stage 2: More deliberate, less frantic

Easing the burden with equipment and hired
labor, letting go of perfection, scaling up and saving backs

Stage 3: How can we make money?

Systems are in place and time for
experimentation, balancing idealism and realism, maybe time for a business plan

Stage 4: I can do it, but should I still?

Assessment, reflection on lifestyle, career,
future, family

Do these stages ring true for you? If so, what stage are you
in?

-----------------------------------------

Speaking of farmer education…

Living on the Land: Buffalo, MN

Living on the Land will provide you with a solid background in all aspects of land management. The basic agricultural information will help you be a good steward of your land and prepare you for more advanced learning opportunities. The eight-week course, offered by University of Minnesota Extension, begins on October 19th with goal setting and individual property inventory, then addresses soil, plant, livestock, and water basics. You’ll also have plenty of time for networking and questions.

New Farmer U is a weekend training for beginning farmers Oct. 21-23, 2016 in Lanesboro, MN. Experienced organic farmers and ag experts will lead workshops on topics such as soil fertility, pest management, and farm machinery. Land access, certification, and business planning are also on the agenda, along with expert-led roundtables. New Farmer U is hosted by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, Renewing the Countryside, and Land Stewardship Project with support from the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher.

Monday, September 19, 2016

I was working last week to harvest a corn silage plot with a
local farmer. We’ve had wet weather in
southeast MN lately, and more rain was in the forecast. Needless to say, they were in a hurry. I was doing my best to work as quickly and
efficiently as possible so that I didn't slow their work down too much. Having grown up and worked on farms, I was reminded of the pressure one feels in
these situations.

That pressure can push us to take short-cuts, stress us out,
and is simply tiring. At these times, it’s
important to remind ourselves and one another to always keep safety in
mind.

This week, we recognize National Farm Safety and Health Week
by highlighting these useful resources.

The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center
(UMASH) has multiple MN connections including the UMN School of Public Health
and College of Veterinary Medicine. They
have developed many resources on farm safety including fact sheets, posters,
videos, and more. Take a look at their
resources.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Livestock producers interested in cover crops should attend
this field day in the Oronoco/Rochester area to learn about grazing cover
crops, cattle nutrition, and the benefits to soils. Speakers include Eric Mousel, UMN Extension
Livestock Educator; Dan Nath, NRCS Soil Scientist; and Dean Thomas, Area 7 Soil
Health Tech.

The field day will be held at the Anthony Rossman farm. On the farm, a 6 species cover crop mix was
planted following peas. The Rossmans produce
beef cattle, the cover crop is being grazed this fall. Attendees will learn how cover crops fit in
their crop rotation and how they are utilized by cattle.

This free field day will be held September 27th
from 9:00-11:30 am. The Rossman farm is
located at 7000 70th St NW, Oronoco, MN. If you have any questions, please contact
Dean Thomas by phone, 507-765-3878 Ext 3, or email, dean.thomas@mn.ncadnet.net.

Friday, September 9, 2016

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! Speaking of labor (what a transition!), here
are some resources to help you understand the legal side of hiring employees
and interns on farms, some labor saving tips, and recommendations for safely
working with cattle.

The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center
(UMASH) has developed resources providing advice on working with cattle. They have factsheets and videos in English
and Spanish on stockmanship. Very high
quality, useful information.